When I was little, a normal day after school would be to go to the library, check out 10 books, lug them home to the surprise of people around me - I was, and still am, very petite - and read for the rest of the night. My parents were never worried about me falling behind in schoolwork mainly because I always loved school.

I had a love/love relationship with the library. I loved it because there so many books. It loved me because I was terrible at remembering to bring them back on time. It's entirely plausible that I funded a good portion of the library's budget due to overdue book fees; it's something I still struggle with now but thanks to Library Elf I am fee-free for all of 2011. Not a huge claim, but, hey, I'm pretty pleased.

The library is still one of my favorite places. One day I hope to pull a Belle (on a much smaller scale, of course) and have a lovely study with walls full of books and maybe even a rolling ladder to reach them all.